Not applicable.
The following related applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, including drawings, and hereby are made a part of this application:
1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the arts of web browser graphical user interface technology and web browser link history management. In particular, this invention relates to methods and systems for web browsers which allow the user to control the visual display of histories of previous web browsing sessions.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Internet and the World Wide Web have become critical, integral parts of commercial operations, personal lives, and the education process. At the heart of the Internet""s success and wide spread acceptance is Internet browser technology and Internet server technology. An Internet server contains content which is available to systems and browsers which have Internet connectivity. Web browser or xe2x80x9cclientxe2x80x9d computers may request documents from web addresses, to which appropriate web servers respond by transmitting one or more web documents, image or graphics files, forms, audio clips, etc. The most common protocol for transmission of web documents and contents from servers to browsers is Hyper Text Transmission Protocol (xe2x80x9cHTTPxe2x80x9d), and the most common web browser content includes Hyper Text Markup Language (xe2x80x9cHTMLxe2x80x9d) pages, Common Gateway Interface (xe2x80x9cCGIxe2x80x9d) forms and pages, and Adobe""s Portable Document Format (xe2x80x9cPDFxe2x80x9d) pages. The most common graphic image and audio recording file formats found on the web today include Graphics Interchange Format (xe2x80x9cGIFxe2x80x9d) and Joint Photographic Experts Group (xe2x80x9cJPEGxe2x80x9d) graphics, moving video clips or segments such as Microsoft""s Audio Video Interleave (xe2x80x9cAVIxe2x80x9d) and Apple""s QuickTime, and audio clips such as xe2x80x9cWAVxe2x80x9d files.
FIG. 1 shows the fundamental client-server arrangement of Internet and intranet communications. A client browser computer (1) is provided with Internet access (2) to the World Wide Web (3) through common means such as a dial-up telephone line and modem, cable modem, or local area network (xe2x80x9cLANxe2x80x9d). The web browser computer (1) is also provided with appropriate web browsing software, such as Netscape""s Navigator or Microsoft""s Explorer. A web server computer (5) is likewise provided with Internet access (4) to the World Wide Web (3) using similar means, or higher-bandwidth means such as T1 and T3 data lines, and a web server suite of software. Alternatively, client and servers may be interconnected via an Intranet (6), such as a corporate LAN. These arrangements are well known within the art.
HTML, PDF and other web documents provide xe2x80x9chyperlinksxe2x80x9d within the document, which allow a user to select another document or web site to view. Hyperlinks are specially marked text or areas in the document which when selected by the user commands the browser software to retrieve or fetch the indicated document.
For example, the text
 less than A HREF=xe2x80x9chttp://www.patents.ibm.comxe2x80x9d greater than VIEW PATENTS less than /A greater than 
when embedded into an HTML document will produce a specially marked or highlighted string of text in the web browser window which simply reads xe2x80x9cVIEW PATENTSxe2x80x9d. Most commonly, this text will appear in underlined blue text, but the HTML document may specify alternate display characteristics for hyperlirks, as well as the web browser may have options for the display of hyperlinks. If the web browser user selects the hyperlink, such as clicking on the hyperlink using a mouse, the web browser will request the base document from web address www.patents.ibm.com using HTTP commands. The appropriate server for this web address will respond to the request by transmitting a web document, such as index.htm, to the requesting web browser.
Ordinarily, when the user selects a plain hyperlink, the current page being displayed in the web broswer""s graphical user interface (xe2x80x9cGUIxe2x80x9d) window disappears and the newly received page is displayed. If the parent page is an index, for example the IBM web site www.patents.ibm.com, and the user wishes to visit each descending link (e.g. read the document with tips on how to use the site), then the parent or index page disappears and the new page is displayed (such as the help page). The user must click the browser""s xe2x80x9cbackxe2x80x9d button to return to displaying the parent page if desired.
FIG. 2 shows an example partial xe2x80x9csite mapxe2x80x9d for a typical web site. A base document (21), or xe2x80x9chome pagexe2x80x9d, is transmitted by the hosting web server to a requesting web browser using HTTP whenever a web browser xe2x80x9cpointsxe2x80x9d to a plain web address without a file specification, such as www.corp.com. In FIG. 2, an example of a base HTML document xe2x80x9cindex.htmxe2x80x9d includes four hyperlinks. If the user selects or clicks on the displayed link for xe2x80x9chelpxe2x80x9d, the file xe2x80x9chelp.htmxe2x80x9d is transmitted by the web server to the browser. In the web browser GUI window, the display of xe2x80x9cindex.htmxe2x80x9d (21) is replaced with a display of xe2x80x9chelp.htmxe2x80x9d (22). The user can further select a hyperlink in xe2x80x9chelp.htmxe2x80x9d (22), such as xe2x80x9cProduct Axe2x80x9d, which will cause the web browser to transmit the file xe2x80x9chelpA.htmxe2x80x9d (23). This can continue many layers deep, and does not have to be organized as a simple tree structure, as shown, because hyperlinks can refer to files on other web addresses, to other parent files, etc.
FIG. 3 shows an example of a web browser graphical user interface (xe2x80x9cGUIxe2x80x9d) display on a browser computer. On a portion (30) of a the user""s browser computer screen, a web browser (31), such as Netscape""s Navigator, is running in its own window. In this example, the browser is currently pointed to the top or home page of the example web site, as indicated in the location bar (34). The web page xe2x80x9cindex.htmxe2x80x9d is configured to split the GUI display into three frames. The upper frame (32) is being used to display a general banner, the left frame (33) is being used to display a list of hyperlinks from the top page (or navigation bar), and the right-bottom frame (35) is displaying the contents of the currently selected page. The top of the web browser display includes a row of control icons, including a xe2x80x9cbackxe2x80x9d button (36) and a xe2x80x9cforwardxe2x80x9d button (37). Additionally, a domain history button (38), such as the location bar history dropdown list in Navigator, is provided.
Most web browser software, such as Microsoft""s Internet Explorer and Netscape""s Navigator, maintains a history log of visited web sites, domains, subdomains, subdirectories, and filenames. The full history log records the fully qualified path and filename of each file or page viewed and the time it was viewed. The history log can usually be viewed in its entirety by a web browser user, such as by selecting COMMUNICATOR-TOOLS-HISTORY in Netscape""s Navigator. A user can usually select certain preferences for the sorting and retention of the information in the history log, such as maximum time a record is retained, and how to show the information sorted by document title, location, date viewed (chronologically or reverse-chronologically), alphabetically, etc. By viewing the fill sorted history log, a user may select a single page or location to visit again, but may have difficulty determining which page he or she wants to visit due to the sometimes cryptic nature of names used in web pages, web site path names and structures.
Thus, currently available browsers provide for some built-in navigation functions using the history log. The xe2x80x9cbackxe2x80x9d button (36) shows the previous page, and the xe2x80x9cforwardxe2x80x9d button shows the next page (if the xe2x80x9cbackxe2x80x9d button has been used), assuming a tree-like structure of a web site. Sometimes, a user may descend multiple layers into a web site in such a way that the xe2x80x9cbackxe2x80x9d button must be pressed many times to return to this xe2x80x9cmainxe2x80x9d or top level page. Selecting the back or forward button causes the browser software to access the history log, sort by top level domain, and automatically re-point the browser to the previous or next page. This is useful for navigating a single web site, but is problematic for navigation based on a history which does not fit the pattern of traversing a tree-like organization within a website, such as following links of a search result from a search engine.
In Netscape""s Navigator, another historical navigation tool is available from the location bar history drop down button (38), which, when selected, provides a list of recently visited top-level domains only. This is produced by filtering the entire history log for top level domain addresses (addresses which do not include subdirectories in their paths), sorting them for the most recently visited, and presenting a limited number of them. This is useful for re-visiting top-level domains or web sites which were recently visited. However, many users need to access particular information which he or she found as the result of many selections and moves within a particular web site, and this tool only takes them back to the top of the web site previously visited. Thus, he or she may then have to repeat the manual xe2x80x9chuntingxe2x80x9d process within that web site to find the information the user previously viewed.
Another browsing session pattern is common among web browser users which does not resemble following links in a tree-like manner. A user may actually choose links which take him across multiple web sites, and to random, seemingly unrelated points within several web sites. For example, a browsing session starting with a visit to a search engine starts with a tree-like pattern of visitation, but quickly turns into accesses to multiple pages from multiple web sites. Consider the following hypothetical web browsing session in which a web browser user wishes to find information about upcoming jazz concerts in the city of Austin, Tex. The user may point the web browser to a popular web search engine""s home page by entering an appropriate universal resource locator (xe2x80x9cURLxe2x80x9d) in the location bar (34). This retrieves and displays the search engine""s home page (40), as shown in FIG. 4, and adds this address to the history log. The user then enters some keywords into a form provided by the search engine, and selects a button (41) to initiate the search. This causes the search engine to perform the indicated search, and to transmit a results page (50) which is displayed in the web browser""s window, as shown in FIG. 5. The web browser adds the address of the results page to the history log.
The results page, such as the example shown in FIG. 5, includes multiple hyperlinks (51) to indexed pages on other web sites, and often graphical images which include hyperlinks, such as banner advertisements (52). In this hypothetical session, the user first selects the banner ad (52), which causes the web browser to select the document located at the hyperlink xe2x80x9caustin.searchcity.comxe2x80x9d, which leads to a home page for yet another search engine, as shown in FIG. 6, and causes the web address xe2x80x9caustin.searchcity.comxe2x80x9d to be added to the history log. The user was hoping for direct information about jazz concerts, not another search engine, so the user selects the BACK button (36), to return to the results page from the first search engine, as shown in FIG. 5. Another entry for this visit to the results page is made by the web browser software in the history log. The user then selects a hyperlink (53) that appears to lead to more desirable information, and causes the document located at xe2x80x9cwww.wildaboutmusic.com/jazzy1/schedules.htmlxe2x80x9d to be transmitted to the web browser and displayed. This address is also added to the history log. The user in this hypothetical case is satisfied with this xe2x80x9chitxe2x80x9d, and may browse further into this web site for more information, and resuming a more tree-like browsing pattern. TABLE 1 shows the entries in the history log made for this short session.
The partial history log shown in TABLE 1 represents the hypothetical session and sequence of visits (e, d, c, b, a) made during the session, presented in reverse chronological (most recent to least recent) order. Each entry also includes the document title, and the time of the visit, which allows the web browser software to sort the data by other user preferences such as by title, date, etc. A few days later, if a user wanted to retrace his or her steps to see the same concert schedule, he may open the history log, and search for these 5 entries among the literally hundreds of entries in the history log. He or she could possibly access the top levels of each of these web sites using the location history drop-down list, assuming too much time has not passed since the original visit. But, even so, only the top level of xe2x80x9cwww.wildaboutmusic.comxe2x80x9d would be available, requiring the user to navigate the entire web site to find the desired document which is buried at xe2x80x9c/jazzy1/schedules.htmlxe2x80x9d.
It is readily apparent that using the BACK and FORWARD buttons is only useful in navigating recently browsed tree-like web structures. And, it is also apparent that using the location bar drop down list or the full history log is of limited usefulness. As more and more information is made available on the web, some of it well organized and some not, more web browser users will be using the Internet for everyday information retrieval. Thus, the current historical navigational tools available in the art will not be sufficient to allow efficient re-visitation to previously viewed web sites and documents.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved historical navigational tool for web browsing. There is a need for this tool to allow visual retracing of previously-visited web sites and documents, thus providing visual stimulation to the user of the contents of the previously viewed documents and allowing a more direct selection of a site or address to revisit.